You’ve got your trusty USB flash drive plugged into your computer, and you go to copy some files to it. Then you get this – “The disk is write protected. Remove the write protection or use another disk.” Then you say, “Whaaaaaa….?!?!” How did this happen? This is your USB stick, you should be able to read, write and do whatever you want with it!

Deep breath and stay calm. It is just an error message. You and I are going to go through a few simple steps to fix write protection on USB drives and make your USB flash drive work again, in the manner that you expect it to. It’s just technology, we can fix it.

Step 1 – Check The USB Drive For Viruses

Every time you plug a USB drive into your computer, you should be automatically scanning it for viruses – especially if you have used it on computers that you don’t own, or public computers. Viruses often act in a manner that will fill your USB drive with nonsense files and this can make your USB drive respond with the Write Protected error.

Depending on the antivirus software that you have, you may be able to configure it to automatically scan USB Drives when they are plugged in. If not, usually you can navigate to the USB drive in Windows Explorer, right-click on it and make your antivirus software scan it manually.

If you do find a virus, then it would be best to eliminate it using your antivirus software. I’d also recommend performing a scan with at least one other antivirus scanner, as not all antiviruses are 100% complete in their anti-virus definitions. Chances are where there is one virus, there are two or more.

Step 2 – Check The USB Drive Body

Normally I’d make something this simple, step one. However I’d rather see you protected from viruses first and then have you check the simple thing factor. Some USB flash drives have a mechanical switch on them that puts them into Write Protect mode. This can be a very small slider switch which may have caught on something in your pocket or computer case.

If this is the situation, then simply move the switch to the unlocked position and try to copy files again. It should work now.

On the upside there aren’t a lot of USB sticks with these locks on them anymore. So there is a good chance that’s not the issue for you. On the downside, if this isn’t the issue the following fixes are slightly more complicated.

Step 3 – Check To Make Sure the Flash Drive Isn’t Full

If your USB stick is full, you may also get the Write Protect error message. So, simply pop into Windows Explorer, find your USB Drive, right-click on it and select Properties. This will give you the nice pie chart display of the Used and Free space available on your USB Stick.

(Fun Fact: The scientific reason why pie charts are so popular is that people like pie). It appears that my drive is barely used at all!

Step 4 – Is It Just That File?

Make sure that it isn’t just the file that is write protected. Yes, you would get a different error message, but maybe you jumped to conclusions and thought it was the whole USB flash drive. It happens. If I can freak out like that, so could you.

Right-click on the file that you’re trying to write to and then click on Properties. Now you’ll see some options at the bottom of this window and one of them is Read-only. Make sure this box is unchecked and then click on the Apply button. You should now be able to write to this file.

Step 5 – Diskpart Command Line Utility

Have you ever worked in the command line on Windows? Well you’re about to. It’s not as scary as one might think, and as such it is the next logical step before going into the Windows Registry.

Click on your Start Menu and type cmd in the Search for programs and files field. Now, hit your Enter key. You’ll see a window looking like the following:

Type in the command diskpart and hit Enter. Diskpart is a disk-partitioning tool that is built into Windows and is accessible through the Command Line Utility. With it, we can change the values associated with your USB drive.

A new command line window will open. Type list disk and then hit Enter. You’ll now see a list of disks available in Windows. If your USB drive isn’t listed here, this won’t help you any. You can see in my example below that all that is showing are the two partitions on my computer’s hard drive. My USB drive doesn’t show up in here for whatever reason.

If it is listed here, make a note of the number beside it. Make sure that this is indeed your USB drive! Now type the command select disk 3, assuming your USB drive is number 3, and hit Enter. Type attributes disk clear readonly and then hit Enter. You have now cleared any Read-Only attribute that might be on that USB drive.

Step 6 – Into the Registry We Go

If none of the previous steps helped you out, then we have to do something a little dangerous – we are going into the registry. If you are not comfortable going into the registry, I understand. You may want to skip to Step 7, but that means going on to formatting your USB drive. Or, you can have a friend who is a computer technician check the registry for you. Or you can try it out yourself. This is a fairly simple registry change, so hang in there. I think you can do it.

Click on your Start Menu and type regedit into the Search for programs and files field. You’ll see something like the image below.

Hit your Enter key. The Registry Editor window will now open. By clicking on the arrows next to the menu items, navigate to

Now, you’ll probably find that the value for this is set to 1. 1 means “Yes, write protect my USB storage device.” So you can guess that 0 means “No, don’t write protect my USB storage device.” Now change that value to 0 and click on the OK button.

Close Registry Editor, remove your USB device and then plug it back in again. You should now be able to write to your USB stick.

If not, it is Disk Formatting Time.

Step 7 – Format The USB Drive

WARNING: Make sure that you back up all the files and information from your USB drive to your computer. All data will be lost once the USB drive is formatted.

Formatting the hard drive is a last resort. However, it should make your USB drive able to be read and written to. Prior to formatting the USB drive, determine what kind of file system it already has – NTFS or FAT32. Normally the file system that it already has will be the file system that is best suited for the drive.

Remember how we went into Windows Explorer, right-clicked on the USB drive and selected Properties back in Step 3? Let’s do that again.

Close out the Properties window and right-click on your USB drive in Windows Explorer again. Click on Format.

In the Format window, you’ve got some options. We’ve already determined that we’re going to use the FAT32 File System for this particular drive. For Allocation Unit Size, select the highest amount you can if you’ve got a USB drive with a capacity over 1GB, go smaller if your USB drive is smaller. I don’t know of too many people with a USB flash drive less than 1GB so 64 kilobytes should be fine.

The formatting shouldn’t take too long. Of course, the larger the volume, the longer the formatting will take. Assuming there is no physical problem with the drive, your USB drive will be formatted, cleaned and ready to read from and write to.

The Take Away

Sometimes the problem is simple and can be dealt with simply. Try those methods first as they are most often the correct ones. If the problem is deep and requires drastic measure, make sure that is indeed the case. You’ve got a lot more troubleshooting tools in your arsenal now and should be able to get your USB drives working again, potentially saving you a tidy sum of money.

And all we ask is that you let us know how it went, in the comments below. Of course, if you have any additional tips, we like to read those too.

None of these methods worked. All the way down to re-formatting. I get an error message that states the disk is write protected so I can not reformat the drive. I purchased SIMMAX brand and was in the middle of copying files when the first read only error message showed up.

Thank you so much! I can't explain how nice it is to read such a helpful, sincere article! It was easy to read, went through all of the available options, and even had a smidge of humor. I'll probably come here for other computer tasks I need to get done from now on. Keep up the good work!

None of your options above worked on my Patriot 32GB. FYI: in the final attempt at --> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies there is no "StorageDevicePolicies" listed on my machine. I am assuming this is item has to be available to make my usb storage device "NOT" write protected?

Hi Guy McDowell:
I have a 32Gb Kimtico USB flash memory that gives me that message: your disk is write protected, remove the....bla bla. I can copy the files but it won't let me write into it nor format it, I have already tried all the methods you describe here and in some other sites. As well as many free software to clean, format, reuse, etc, (like disableUSB, HUFFYHUV, jetflash, SDformater, TestDisk, etc. and non of them seemed to have worked.
Is there any other way to recover my USB, or is there an app that I might buy to do the task?
Thanks in advance and you can Email me if you'd like.

I have a client who gets into trouble when copying files FROM the USB stick. Windows copies a few files and creates the folders needed (there are a lot of those), but then it says that the USB stick is write protected... hey... I was copying FROM the stick not TO it!

Situation:
I have a micro sd card (FAT 32) for my camera and when I try to delete files from computer (I'm using 64 bits win 7), it says "This media is write protected."

What I've done:
1. Check for any read-only status, and the result is there is no file with read-only status.
2. Try to format it, but again. It's write protected.
3. I try to use cmd command to clear disk read-only file and to clean it but it didn't work.
4. I try to open Storage Device Policies and change the Write protect dword registry but it's already at 0.

If anyone know what's the problem and how to solve it please help me. Thanks.

I have a 16GB flash drive that was provided by the firm I work for. It came from the manufacturer with write protection. All the suggestions above have not worked. I can't format it or delete any file from it. Please help

I have a 32 GB Cruzer that I am unable to Delete or Format. It has a copy of the Windows XP Folder.
I have tried everything that I have found on the web and nothing works - it says it's Write-Protected but I can't remove the Read-Only Attribute. I have run "Unlocker" but that doesn't work.
I can't find anything else to try.

I completed the CMD but that didn't work. I went into the registry but I could only get to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control the next path wasn't there. There was storage but nothing that could help me.

Also I can't format it because it says it's write protected. My USB was working fine last week.

So I still can't use my USB which has all my files on. I have managed to deleted them from my NAS drive last night and this is an older, but not too old version. Really stressed now and have lost a day of work :(

you have to create storagepolicies manually, juste type in google : storagepolicies doesn't exist and u will find the way to create it easilyyyyy, because i already had the same issue and that what i did exactly to resolve it

The DWORD is a type of value for a registry key. If you're not comfortable working in the registry, I recommend staying out of it. A little mistake can lead to a big problem very quickly when working in the registry.

In windows XP, it must be an issue with windows itself, not the card ot the usb drive, I tried it in a different computer with Win7 and I was able to format the card, came back to WinXP and same crap happened again. there must be another solution at OS level.

I tried all your methods but it didn't work. Just like what you've said, " If your USB drive isn’t listed here, this won’t help you any. You can see in my example below that all that is showing are the two partitions on my computer’s hard drive. My USB drive doesn’t show up in here for whatever reason." So what i did is, I typed "SElect disk 3", But "no disk" was the response given to me.
Then, i also tried the RegEdit.Exe, yet when I tried to find the "Storage Device Policies". It turns out that it has no "StorageDevicePolicies" instead it was just "Storage". That was available on my disk.

So please help me with my problem. I don't know what to do. I'm losing hope and a bit frustrated to what had happen, about this "write Protected". Hopefully, you would help me because i don't wanna lose my files which is very important to me. I treasured all those so please i really need your help. Help me please to solve my problem.

i have a san disk 32gb usb flash which is write protected.
i have tried all those methods to fix it but it doesn't work any of them.
it opens and show everything on it.
but I cant delete,cut,copy,rename,format my flash
if u can help me. please answer me on my facebook/ [ farhad maiel ] account or email :farhadmaiel10@gmail.com

I have a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive (file system exFAT) which I use with my old XP computer. All of a sudden today I started having problems with saving or backing up to it.

When I tried to back up my Quicken files, I got this message: "Unable to access the disk in Drive G. Please make sure the drive is ready and the disk is not write-protected."
When I tried to do "save as" for an Excel file, I got this message: "Cannot save the file. The location you want to save to is write-protected."

Your advice was very helpful. I was able to remove write protection from my USB device by using the Diskpart Command Line Utility. I am now able to back up Quicken files and save Excel files to it.

However, when I opened the Seagate properties tried to do error checking and disk defragmentation, I couldn't do either one. The defrag option gave this error: "Cannot run on this volume type" and check disk with the option to automatically fix file system errors, it gave this message: "Windows was unable to complete the disk check."

In the past both of these had worked just fine. What else should I do?

I have been to multiple websites, Youtube videos and blogs. All end up with the same advice you provided. None of these have worked. My error happened while copying files tyo the drive. I can access thedata, and copy it off, but cannot modify or add new data. The easiest way to explain my methods is below.

DISKPART - It changed the Write Protect to NO, but the "Current Status Write Protect" will not change from YES. (tried multiple little tricks like removing straight away and plugging back in, rebooting, but nothing works)

REGEDIT - Did not have StoageDevicePolicies. Found how to add this to my editor, but this also did not work.

FORMAT - Will let me select all the requirements for my format but when click OK, just tells me its write protected. Manufacturer - Tried a Kingston USB3 format tool from their website for this exact product, but the same deal.

MULTPLE PCS - I build and repair computers for friends, so tried testing on other machines (including all the steps already completed above) and still couldn't get a result.

In conclusion, I find it puzzling that the drive still works except for the protection, but I can only deduce that it is a hardware fault and that I need to bin it when the data on it is no longer useful (just music and some documents). I have already spent enough time on this that I should have just bought a new one, especially when you work out your hourly pay rate. So if anyone else has this problem, don't keep searching if you've done all of the steps, just let it go.

Linux have a disk tool that comes with the linux operating system simply called DISK which you access from the start menu.
My Kinston USB drive became unmountable after I made it a bootable USB........and I could not format the disk.
However after firing up the DISK tool in Linux, the tool gave me 2 options.
1) to delete partition.......or 2)Write a new file system .
I tried both options...........but no2, "write new file system"..........worked and now my USB stick works as normal again.

Hi I have a 16GB Thumb drive that is giving the 'write protected' error, I have tried all your suggested steps and no matter what route I take it does not remove the write protect error.The only files on the thumb drive are a coupe of old transfer saves. If you have any further suggestions I'd love to hear them.
Thanks,
Chris Minor
Sacramento CA

Hi I didn’t find the path “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/StorageDevicePolicies”
I just found “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Storage” I’m using windows XP please help

None of the above fixed my flash drive. What did?
1 back the whole thing up to your hard drive
2 plug in the flash drive
3 power pc down
4 boot hitting F8 to come up in DOS SAFE Mode
5 Format the FLASH DRIVE
6 power down
7 Boot to normal windows
8 IF Windows does not recognize the flash drive, format it again. This will automatically be a 'quick format' (1 minute)
Write protect is gone!! Done!!

I had two Scan Disk USB flash drives (32GB & 64GB) that were formatted in the exFAT format that kept giving me the "Write Protected" warning when I tried to change the name of a file or erase a file. I am using a Dell Inspiron 530 with XP installed. I tried these suggestions and others that were similar that were found on the internet but I had no success.

I then ran check disk on each USB Flash drive and this corrected the problem for both flash drives. I ran check disk by inserting a USB Flash Drive into the computer and then going to Run (under the start menu in Windows XP) and typing in chkdsk e: /r (spacing is important) and then selecting OK. It took about 130 seconds to complete for my 64GB Flash drive. Note: e: is the drive in which my Scan Disk 64GB USB Flash Drive was located.

I am curious if I was lucky or if this is actually a solution so please post your results so others will know.

Hi I didn't find the path "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/StorageDevicePolicies"
I just found "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Storage" I'm using windows 10 Thnaks

My USB drive suddenly started telling me that the disk is write protected. It has been working fine prior to this msg and now it isn't at all. Someone please help, as I cannot insert my windows disc to make it all go away like Sead has mentioned. Also, I'm using Windows 10 if that changes any steps I would have to take.

My USB
1. Doesn't have virus on it,
2. It is not even full,
3. All the files are write protected (i've tried the properties and unchecked the readonly, but still failed)
4. And my USB body doesn't have the write protect switch,
5. I've tried the CMD, it says that it was successful but it didn't,
6. I tried regedit but i can't find the StorageDevicePolicies, mine only has storage,
7. And the last i tried to format it, but it says that it can't be format because it is WRITE PROTECTED

By the way i am using windows 7, and my laptop is a notebook, so i can't insert a CD like saed adjar said, i was wondering if it were because my chipset usb are broken or maybe it was because i am using windows 7, please anyone do kindly help me, I would be bless, thank you.

.tmp is a temporary file. It might get created whenever you plug in your USB flash drive. Temporary, or temp, files are little system files where things like variables and other settings get written to.

Once whatever application needs that info is done with it, it sometimes gets erased. Depends on what's using it.

You don't see them much because they are often hidden from view as either hidden or system files. Maybe you have View Hidden Files turned on in your Windows Explorer.

ALL THIS STEPS DID NOT WORK FOR ME BECAUSE WHEN I INSERTED MY USB IT SAID YOU NEED TO FORMAT THE DRIVE THEN TRIED TO FORMAT BT STIL CNT DO THAT BECAUSE IT SAYS ITS WRITE PROTECTED.CAN U HELP ME WITH FULL STEPS OF CMD.

This didn't work for me. I scanned my USB drive for viruses and it found none, and it won’t let me format it or check it for errors. Whenever I try to do either, it just gives me an error saying that it’s write-protected. What can I do?

Your files are garbage. I ran through all of your steps, clicked through your links and no solution. This is a brand new thumb drive that I just wasted hours transferring data onto, ejected it, inserted into a new computer to have Windows tell me it is write protected when I never chose to do so.

Clearly you know as little as Windows as to why this is happening so thanks for nothing.

Okay, tried almost every damn thing that is listed here. But, no luck. I bought my Dell Pendrive just a few days ago, and it didn't work at the first go. I formatted it and it showed, "your disk is now writeprotected". Please help me, man. I need this drive urgently. Thanks!

If the drive is just a few days old, I suggest looking at returning it for a replacement. That may be your quickest solution.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

I did everything you said, and when nothing worked I followed your formatting instructions and it would not format....gave message disk is write protected. This is a drive that I have written/rewritten on for several years and suddenly I can't write anything. I have an MIS background and followed the instructions exactly.

Even flash drives have a lifespan. You say you've been using it for years. Perhaps yours is at the end of its lifespan.

This article is also not comprehensive in that there are far too many variables as to why a USB flash drive might be write protected.

In the comments, there are further ideas on how you might fix this issue. Please review them and try those suggestions that seem appropriate to you.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

Flash sticks have become pretty cheap in the last few years and I agree with Guy. "Don't spend a lot of time trying to fix one - just buy a newer "bigger and better" one if the simple solutions don't work." Usually if the simple ones don't work it probably means the device is toast anyway and you are just trying to chase your own shadow.

These devices don't make good backups so don't rely on them and assume the data you copy to them is %100 save - it's not. If it's important data keep an extra copy on a separate flash stick. I have seen too many of these devices fail and it always seems to be at the most inappropriate time.

I purchased a 32 GB USB drive and suspected that it was a fake because of the cheap price. So I used a very common testing program from Germany (forgot the name). Don't use the testing program. The testing program corrupted the drive and it became unformattable. Prior to that, it was possible to format the drive. The testing program tries to write into locations outside of its address range, and I suspect it wrote into the programmable logic.

The USB drive indeed had a problem with FAT32 folders and broke its own file system when writing on multiple folders, needing reformatting. However, it could actually store 32 GB, if there were no folders and subfolders. I suspected a problem so ran the testing program, which corrupted the drive and now I cant format it.

None of the methods worked for me. Although I suspect it's because of the age of my flash drive (At least 7 years).

I think i've read about it somewhere that a flash drive can only be written on for a finite number of times. Somewhere within the thousand range. After that, you won't be able to put files into the drive, but you can still read the files that was inside it.

My flash drive is pretty much like that. I could use it to play the music in it days ago but yesterday, however, I formatted my drive and it became write protected. So yeah. Just though it might be worth mentioning.

Everyone here is reporting that these suggestions don't work. Problem is that the drive is not formatted. But when trying to format it, it says write protected. The bios on the drive seems to be corrupted.

Guy McDowell should get a clue and update his solutions so that he offers a solution to this most common case.

Fair reply. But I think my problem is pretty common and that is what drives people to search for a solution on Google. Most of the comments below are referring to the same problem - unable to format an unformatted drive. And we don't know who the manufacturer is. Is there a way to find out?

Is it the case that USB drives or flash cards have a piece of programmable logic or firmware that can get corrupted, hence making them unformattable?

Given your extensive knowledge on such matters, I would think you can shed some light on this pressing problem.

Unfortunately none of those suggestions worked. When I tried to format the USB I still got the error message that it was a protected disk. I did the Diskpart and the read-only state said yes but the read-only said no. This is a 2 gb usb and I would like to be able to use it. I did have files on there but now can't seem to see them. I'm willing to lose them if I could get it to format.

The reason I want to write protect is to be able to insert my pen drive into public computers without the pen drive being infected with viruses. I give lectures at university and most computers are infected. I have managed to write protect using the attributes set readonly command but it will only protect my pen drive on the computer I have enabled write protect. Is there a way to write protect it for all computers.?

In Windows Explorer, select your USB drive.
Right-click on that drive and select Properties.
In the new window, click on the Security tab.
Select the user Everyone and click on the Edit button.
At the bottom of the resulting window check the boxes in the Deny column next to Full Control, Modify, and Write.
Click on the OK button.

Now that drive cannot be written to from anyone, including yourself. To undo that, just follow the same steps but uncheck the Full Control, Modify, and Write boxes.

With me the readonly would only come a certain amount of time after connecting the usb... maybe 30 seconds, so I had that much time to start formatting, but after this time, none of the 7 steps helped.

I've finished trying your Steps 1 to 7 but none of them worked. I'm still encountering same problem. Every time I try to format my USB drive, I still receive a message "The disk is write protedted." Please helped me. I am also a technical person but may be not as good as you. In fact I have done all your steps except for Stept 6 (editing the registry) before I come to encouter your web site. What else can I do to remove that protection?

When i used my The Registry Editor there was no write protect or storage device policies the closet thing i have is Usbflags. what do i do? it won't even format instead it say can not format write protected.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

Sir,
None of these steps help me. My flash drive is still not working. i cannot format it because it says, it is write protected though it doesnt have any manual lock or switch. i found this two annoying and i think a kind of virus or autorun within my flash drive: J:\4#S.ini and J:\trz27DA.tmp. my flash drive is on drive J. Even Avast and USB fix failed to clean these two. and until now my flashdrive is write protected.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

Hi.
I've tried all of your options but my USB is still write protected. It won't even let me format it as it just comes up and says the disk is write protected.
I have just found out that my laptop is now write protecting every single USB drive I put into my ports.
Do you have any advice on how to sort out this issue?
Thanks.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

Hey McDowell:-
I have 8gb sony usb flash drive I try all the soft wares and cmd,reg edit and I also scan with antivirus but it does not worked. and also check the maker of USB thumb support page but doesn't format............. so please help me......

ITs easyest to say buy new ..but in one week 2 my usb kingstont usb sticks just locked 2 write for no f obwius reason and they are all just 2 months old and were not cheap at all..i tryed every single thing there is on the internet but no go..still write protect .. cant format with anuthing on any computer even with kingston format tool..disk part also nothing ..its shame that they sell this crap

Another thing to look at is if your USB ports are providing too high or too low voltage and amperage. Is it possible the USB ports are damaged and that is causing damage to the flash drives? To get you started, review my article, Dead USB Port? Here’s How to Diagnose and Fix It!

Also check for viruses, malware, etc. on your computer that may be affecting the USB drives.

See, you probably haven't tried EVERYTHING on the Internet. ;) That's a big old Internet out there.

Raffaele Alessandro

July 15, 2015 at 8:10 pm

When trying to format my USB it says "the disk is write protected".. I have tried everything including the Registry method and its still not working. I've tried installing software but its still not working? What should I do?

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

i've tried all of your steps in this article. but instead of a flashdrive i'm using a microSD card. it won't let me re-format it and it says it is full but there is 0 bytes on it. im not sure whats wrong or if i should just discard it.. thanks for the help

Great article!!! Thank you. It was simply the on-off switch, which I never even knew existed!!!
After much confusion, consultation with others, and a lot of needless work on re-installing drivers, etc., I found your article on Google. Thank You!!!! Excellent stuff!

my USB drive is full. I am trying to copy to a larger USB but I am getting the write protected error and it will not copy the files. The article mentions this can happen but nothing suggested works. Any advice? Please keep in mind I am a novice when it comes to computers.

Tried all the above steps but unfortunately none of them worked. I think it is time to drop this USB stick in the bin and buy a new one. A shame as it worked well until I used a file rescue programme to rescue and download files from a Mac Pro, then it all went pear shaped.

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

Hi. my name is Nnamdi. Some days ago, i tried accessing the contents of my flashdrive, but i kept getting the "this disk is write-protected" reply. But i was able to remove the protection through the help of search results from google

Now i have a memory card containing videos that i wouldnt want to be sent to anyone throiugh bluetooth or computer explorer. Is there a way i can write-protect this memory card too???

I have an USB Storage from manufacturer Patriot Memory where Windows everytime said that it is write protected.
After browsing the internet for help I don't have found any functional solution to disable the write protection.
On the manufacturer website I've found a tool to format/restore that fortunately works fine.
I've choosed the option restore an the tool has deleted all contents an formated it.
Now my usb-sticks works fine.
My next stick will be again a Patriot Memory :)

If you're still having problems with your USB flash drive, here are some other resources to try:

HDD Low Level Format helps perform a very thorough formatting of a drive. Be sure to select the right drive.mUsbFixer is a free and tiny tool to remove write-protection and format the pendrives and SD cards.

Tried all of these methods with no success and continue to get ' The disk is write protected ' message popping up. With the registry edit method there was no storage device policies at all , only Storage with no open-up arrow on the left of it.

I was having the same write issue with my flash drive.. my file system was also set to RAW.. I tried using diskpart with no luck. I downloaded the program 'HDD Low Level Format tool ver.4.40'setup which can be found here:

Run the program, select continue at the first box (unless you want to donate money) and then select the flash drive on the next screen and select continue. Next, select the tab named LOW-LEVEL FORMAT and click the FORMAT THIS DISK button on the bottom.

After it finished running, my disk was converted back to FAT32 and had no read-only attribute. I was then able to convert it to NTFS with no issues. Hope this helps!

We don't have a way to upload files to us, or to share them either. It's a legally sticky area.
But thank you for thinking of us! If you find the link, I'd like it if you could share it here. Our other readers probably would like that too. :)

Hello , i had the same problem guys but i got mine fixed already. I downloaded this file from a website and the name is restore (i forgot where did i downloaded it) but i got the file , i wish i could share this to you but how can i upload this file ? sorry for my bad english , i'm from phillipines . Wish i can help you guys.

Well, that skimmed the surface, however for drives that are really fubar it didn't make a scratch. Also there were no comments on initializing the drive either, which did help me get the sad little stick to "look" like it was WR, however it isn't . There's a 12MB partition on it that just won't go away. I've dealt with encrypted disks, been all over diskpart and other utilities and it just won't reformat, re-initialize, etc to a usable form. Maybe something did go bad on the stick, however as we're having problems sometimes with the encrypted OS going RO, I'm thinking it's related. Oh well, back to searching.

Hi, I've been happily using my Kingston dataTraveler USB for months when all of a sudden I couldn't write to it any more. A week or so back I reformatted it as NTFS as I needed to backup some big files (6-7GB) and it seemed to work fine until yesterday. I tried your steps 1-6 (1-5 made no difference) but when I got into the registry settings there is no StorageDevicePolicies listed at all....is that where the problem lies? I'd be grateful for your advice!

It is new, but tossed the darned receipt away (STUPID). I have checked Scan Disk's site, and sent them an email. They replied a day later (OMG!! so quick). It seems from the email that they too believe the "...USB drive has gone bad and needs to get replaced." They are willing to replace it at their expense, including shipping. Holy Moly a company that stands by their product and will replace if faulty!!!!!

So far, my faith in the company AND product has been restored (angelic music in the background).

Even when you tried to format your USB Key it didn’t allow you saying “the disk is write protected”!
I have had the same problem and I RESOLVED IT ! The problem is very dilated, you know for it, but may be also manufakturers of yours USB key knows for it? I have 4GB USB Key Transcend and I found a Tool "Restore/Format" write protected USB Key on their site. With it I succefully formated my Key. i suggest you to look in the site of your manufacturer for the tool or ask them for help.

WARNING: Make sure that you back up all the files and information from your USB drive to your computer. All data will be lost once the USB drive is formatted.
Very glad if I help you, yours Zdenko (73 years old)

I had my 4gb micro sd card that i used with my mobile, I removed the card for saving/moving/moving some file to my Laptop it work well, but when i re-inserted the card my mobile asked me to format for continuing using I denied and removed and insert again in my Laptop, here too the same pop-up, i.e., format the card,,, Here i do format i tried every possibility but the result is only Windows couldn't complete format. then i go my mobile there's no good result!!! Please help me out.

I have installed windows 8.1 from usb but after installation i am not able to format usb.
I have tried all above suggestions e.g create registry key try HP formatting tool but my usb not formatted... what next???

None of the processes worked. My operating system is Vista and no matter what I did I could not remove the "read only" or "write protected". I followed the suggestions, the Cmd window would open but no matter what I typed it always displayed the descriptions of the action words. When I tried to remove the "read only" on a file it again displayed the file is "read only". I got the same results when I tried to Format. I have no idea how to solve this which is very frustrating as I have the same problem with 4 other flash drives.

good advice but none of it worked for me
1 it wont format
2 when go into regedit I get storage but not storage protect
3 it wont format says cannot format read only
4 when I click on its properties its totally empty

However, before you judge this article so negatively, you may want to consider what lead to having the write protection error in the first place. I can assure you, it had nothing to do with me.

Issues like this are almost always the result of what the user of the drive does. Do you just pull the drive out when you remove it, or do you follow the proper ejection procedure? Even if you don't do it properly just once, it can cause this issue.

Did you put the write protection on in the first place? If so, then it's there because you put it there, not because the plethora of advice you got for free didn't happen to be the solution for your situation.

And there is one step you haven't tried. Give up on that drive and get a new one.
Sometimes things are just plain broken and you have to move on.

Hi there! Im using 4gb micro sd card in my android phone. It reads perfectly. however, it fails to write anything at all. I tried to format it but it failed. I followed the given procedure here in totality and i was at last successful at formatting it. However, I was astonished to see the same data on the card a moment later. I scanned my card under HDtune and it was perfect. I then deleted the partition and formatted it again but the data just keeps appearing back again. Even I tried low level formatting, yet it failed and data appeared again. Not only done the procedure using the phone's connectivity but also various card readers. Can any technocrat please help me to solve this issue? I will be very thankful.

i was having problem of write protected and i make it too dificult to "clean" the USB by clean command in "diskpart" . Now it is no showing in My Computer it is showig only in "ComputerManageDisk Management " and in Windows XP installation setup. But XP is not able to delete the partition. Now what should i do, help me please....

If it is showing in Disk Management, check the drive letter. It may have decided to use a drive letter in use by another device. You can change it to just about any letter.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'not able to delete the partition'. Did you create a partition on your USB flash drive?

In Disk Management, does it say that the file system on the USB flash drive is RAW, NTFS, FAT32, EXT3, etc?

If it is anything BUT FAT32, try changing the file format to one of those. Depeding on the size of your flash drive, you may need to adjust the cluster size. Here's a little bit about FAT32 cluster sizes, courtesy of mcmcse.com:

The FAT32 file system can support drives up to 2 terabytes in size (in theory) and because it uses space more efficiently, FAT32 uses smaller clusters (that is, 4,096 byte clusters for drives up to 8 GB in size), resulting in more efficient use of disk space relative to large FAT16 drives.

So this is the same like memory cards, i have a memory card about 16GB i try everything is possible from here or internet, i can find a solution to reactivate(format) my memory card.
Everything i try sad: the disk is write protected.....
Any ideea???

Thanks for this article. I've tried everything and am fairly tech literate. I went into the regedit but the key "storage device policies" doesnt exist. Now what. Nothing I do will allow me to erase or format this this disk (128GB mSD with SD Adapter lock switch off)

buzzbomb SOLVED it is THAT SIMPLE!!!
THANK YOU buzzbomb!!!
buzzbomb!!!
go to c/windows/inf search for usbstor.pnf in search panel right click it
select properties>security>users(your name pc) edit permissions give your name
write permissions

I agree with the last few comments - the "regedit" did nothing for my flash drive and after doing it several thousand times, it has failed me altogether and has now forced me to format the drive... Great.

Sounds all quite interesting. However my USB flash drive is still write-protected although I proceeded according to above instructions. There is no 'StorageDevicePolicies' in my HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl
My operating system is Windows 7, 32-bit. So it would be wonderful to get instructions how to get 'StorageDevicePolicies' in my registry. It should be between: 'Stillmage and SystemInformation'.

I was on registry step 6 but when I foloowed the instruction there was no option called "WriteProtect". But my USB is still write protected it gives me that erorr message.
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlStorageDevicePolicies
and look for a key named WriteProtect."

I can't even format it because of the write protection error.
This means whatever I put into the USB I can never delete. I have backed up my USB though.

None of these steps worked. In particular, in Step Six 'StorageDevicePolicies' isn't there. I tried everything else to no avail. I should probably throw the drive away, right? They're inexpensive nowadays, I don't know why I'm bothering to go through all this work.

Trying to insert window 8 in flash, but it turned to be writeprotected, no a single method that can solved beside buying new flash...................... It is just little error but turn to throw the 8Gb flash away. Amazingly, How come? for this little mistake. After all thank you for the article, and it can't help.....

I solved this by adding the StorageDevicePolicies key to the registry in W7 and only by doing that (and a format with Windows Computer Management cause It wouldnt show in Explorer otherwise...) So, good Guy M, it might be an excellent idea to add a small howtoaddthattotheregistry to Step 6. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

all step didn't worked for me either...
i can't format it in every way and every site show me....
still "write protected"
i use bitdefender though but didn't find any malware or virus....
4 days ago i copied files to my pc... after i copied the files, the usb flash drive turn "write protected" i check bit locker, but bitlocker is turned of on my usb....

@ GuyM I tried all the above steps given by u but still getting the same problem. Is there any other way of removing this??? Or should I do the same procedure from the laptop which originated this problem???

If there is another way, I don't know what it is. Sorry. Doing this on the original laptop shouldn't make a difference. Maybe if one was Windows and one was Mac, but even then I don't think it should make a difference.

I've done every single step. I tried the Reg key before i found this page. Still doesn't work . . The whole point for me was to format it and that is exactly what I can't do, because the usb drive is write protected >_>

thanks pal. All I had to do was disable the write protection on the flash stick and you were the only person on the www who said that. Thanks for solving my problem so easily as I didn't know such a switch existed. I owe you a pint of cold beer

I followed the seven steps for clearing a write protected flash drive. Step 6 in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies di not have the entry "StorageDevicePolices". Even did a search for it. No dice. I am using Win 7 and flash drive is recognized.(seen) but, I just can.t touch it. It didn't list it through Regedit. In trying to format it in windows, it tells me it s write Protected.

I had this problem and tried all of the options mentioned in the article with no avail. I temporarily got write permissions with the diskpart command then I had had to make adjustments in the security tab on the properties section of the drive itself. Somehow the owner had been changed with many of the permissions changed as well. I believe one of my kids was to suspect not sure though.

Well-l-l-l,
File manager does not recognize the drive.
Disk Management recognizes the drive is in place, but does not assign a letter, nor can I click on the drive - Disk 6 in this instance - in the uper screen, although the drive shows in the lower window with only the size, 59.77 GB, which is identical to a similar drive. It sees the space, but will not allow any further action. Appears I'll have to use gparted or similar in order to fix. Shouldn't have to reboot, nor to use a foreign tool, to fix a Windows drive.

Please help !! I have been having this issue with my flash drive for months now. I tried everything I knew even did research and ask for help online in the past months but no one seems to have the solution. After reading this article I decided to give it a try again but unfortunately none of the methods seemed to work. I did manage to discover that the folder which contains an ISO fie stored on the flash drive is wright protected, however when I follow the instructions given in step 4 and 5 that doesn't remove the wright protection because when I attempt to remove the wright protection from the folder it give the error message "An error occurred applying attributes to the file: The media is wright protected. " Please help

I look up on the methods from 1 to last, no solutions for my usb problem, it has created a write protection rules, I have observed that all files can't be delete, some has unknown and special character file named to the folders, but still can be view or can be copy but can't be moved, I tried HB USB Format but still it is write protected... I am asking for help how can I solve it? is it a bad sector behavior, or a damage USB?

With 20+ years of experience in IT, training, and technical trades, it is my desire to share what I've learned with anyone else willing to learn. I strive to do the best job possible in the best manner possible, and with a little humour. Keep in touch: Twitter - Facebook…